Medical Bulletin 6/February/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

New therapeutic target in macrophages identified for the treatment of obesity-related diseases

A team of researchers at the CNIC has discovered that the metabolic requirements of macrophages differ depending on the organ in which they reside. In other words, these cells adapt to the needs of the organ in which they are located.

The new study reveals that macrophages adapt their metabolism and function to the organ in which they reside. “In tissues with abundant extracellular fat and cholesterol, such as the lungs and spleen, macrophages adapt their metabolism to degrade these fats through mitochondrial respiration,” explained first author Dr. Stefanie Wculek. “Using genetic or pharmacological methods to disrupt mitochondrial respiration, mitochondria can be eliminated from lung and spleen, whereas the macrophages in other organs, which don’t depend on mitochondrial respiration, survive.”

Reference:

Oxidative phosphorylation selectively orchestrates tissue macrophage homeostasis,Immunity,doi 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.01.011

Study reveals circadian gene expression varies according to sex and age

Daily rhythms of gene expression in humans vary according to sex and age, according to a new study using more than 900 human transcriptomes from the Genotype-tissue Expression (GTEx) project. The findings reveal a previously unknown diversity of sex- and age-specific differences in circadian gene expression, which could help explain the different incidences of some diseases in males and females, as well as during aging.